Road Safety Bill [HL]

I always carry a high visibility jacket in my vehicle because I regularly need it. I do not dispute the effectiveness of high visibility clothing. I am sorry to be unhelpful to my noble friend, but modern vehicles very rarely break down. However, my noble friend is right to say that a very high risk is attached to getting out of a vehicle on the driver’s side, especially on motorways. The first lesson on a driving course is to locate and name major components of the vehicle. The second lesson is to mount and adopt the correct driving position. That includes being carefully taught to go towards the driver’s door facing the traffic and to leave it still facing the traffic, that is, going towards the rear of the vehicle. The problem is that a high visibility jacket will be used very infrequently and it will therefore be kept in the boot. It will not be kept in the passenger compartment. Or will we prosecute motorists for not having the high visibility jacket in the passenger compartment because the boot will not be good enough? There will be a problem because an unskilled driver can still be careless while getting his high visibility jacket out of the boot. This is not relevant to the amendment, but I would support a requirement to carry and deploy a warning triangle. However, the Highway Code effectively advises against using a warning triangle on the motorway. I would have thought that the thing to do would be to deploy a warning triangle 150 metres behind the vehicle, and then change the tyre. That is a far better warning than the high visibility jacket. I do not expect the Minister to respond to this point, because it will not be in her briefing, but it would be helpful if she would write to me about why we do not have a requirement to use a warning triangle on the motorway and why the Highway Code in fact advises against them. I believe that that is the opposite of what the Germans say. Why is our Highway Code different from the Germany highway code in respect of a warning triangle? If the Minister will write to me on that point, it will avoid me tabling an amendment on it at a later stage. I apologise for being unhelpful to my noble friend, but I think this would be an unnecessary regulation.